AudioCodes Ltd. (NASDAQ:AUDC) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

AudioCodes Ltd. (NASDAQ:AUDC) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 96,200 shares, a drop of 7.4% from the March 31st total of 103,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 74,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

AudioCodes Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of AudioCodes stock traded down $0.29 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $10.81. 111,731 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 76,091. The business has a fifty day moving average of $12.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.62. The company has a market capitalization of $327.76 million, a P/E ratio of 39.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.80. AudioCodes has a 1 year low of $7.14 and a 1 year high of $14.45.

AudioCodes (NASDAQ:AUDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.04. AudioCodes had a net margin of 3.59% and a return on equity of 7.35%. The firm had revenue of $63.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.18 million. As a group, research analysts predict that AudioCodes will post 0.68 EPS for the current year.

AudioCodes Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. AudioCodes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 128.57%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AudioCodes

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in AudioCodes by 62.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 20,423 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $206,000 after acquiring an additional 7,856 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AudioCodes in the third quarter valued at $116,000. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in AudioCodes by 56.8% in the third quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC now owns 211,970 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,143,000 after purchasing an additional 76,742 shares during the period. Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd. acquired a new position in AudioCodes during the 3rd quarter worth $203,000. Finally, Heartland Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in AudioCodes by 236.0% during the 3rd quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 780,500 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $7,891,000 after purchasing an additional 548,200 shares during the period. 68.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AUDC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of AudioCodes from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of AudioCodes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on AudioCodes from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th.

AudioCodes Company Profile

AudioCodes Ltd. provides advanced communications software, products, and productivity solutions for the digital workplace worldwide. The company offers solutions, products, and services for unified communications, contact centers, hosted business services, Voice.AI, and service provider businesses. Its products include session border controllers, life cycle management solutions, VoIP network routing solutions, media gateways and servers, multi-service business routers, IP phones solutions, and value-added applications, as well as professional services.